Dualité

I have to give thanks to my boyfriend for tagging along with me on my shopping trips, but mostly for his handy insights on what to look for in the finishing of garments. Having worked in the garment industry for a couple of years, Tintin (that’s his nickname) was in charge of la finition on clothes and could spot some minor flaws. He now works as a sushi chef, totally unrelated, but his perfectionism stays intact.

Teenflo – Made in Canada

My first stop was at Teenflo, a business oriented brand, all made in Canada. What struck me the most was the quality of the fabric, they felt luxurious for business wear and had a price tag to match $200-$450 a pop. I didn’t have any issues with any of the garments until Tintin pointed out some minor flaws. Some had a couple of end threads sticking out, some were an inch long, and then he checked the stitch lines from the sleeves to the body of a blazer.

“These sleeve lines should be in aligned with the side jacket lines,” he said. I asked him what difference did it make if they were aligned or not? “Not much, but you want a garment that looks symmetrical on all facets. It looks to me they were kind of lazy in putting these together. Of course, it depends on the style of the garment too, but in this case the lines should be as one continuous line.” Mind you, aside from the misalignment the clothes looked solid and wouldn’t look like they’d fall apart. But I guess if you were nitpicky about your clothes being symmetrical, this would be an issue coupled with the extra threads. If I were Japanese, I wouldn’t buy it.

Other brands that are carried by Teenflo are made in Vietnam and China, so be aware.

Michael Kors – Made in China

I wasn’t expecting much of quality at Michael Kors to be honest, it’s an international brand that’s distributed in many countries, so I wasn’t surprised that all of it was made in China. What was the most appalling though was one thin, black, double breasted jacket hanging next to the suede jackets. The black jacket was covered in white suede fuzz, giving away two things:

1) The black coat will pick up any kind of white dirt and stay on…not very cool.
2) The suede jacket is cheap enough to shed its own skin…not so cool either.

Considering that this brand charges quite a hefty price tag of $150 and up, you’d expect more from them or at least the sales ladies to clean up the jacket or place them elsewhere. This isn’t a boutique that holds the entire Michael Kors line though, it’s more of an accessory store than anything else.

According to their website some items are made in Italy, but take those labels with a grain of salt.

Charles Le Tailleur

I was kindly referred to a tailor right within the mall by the Josef sales lady, having purchased a grey sleeveless office dress from them for $150. Charles Le Tailleur is a straight forward, no fuss business of getting your clothes tailored. My Josef dress is slightly too wide and too long, so I had him take in the waist and hike up the bottom hemline to the top of my knees. He charged me $40 for it. I will see the result of it this weekend.

I haven’t had a chance to go down to the Gay Village to get my coat tailored due to the abominable snow storms we’ve been having, but I’m in no rush in getting it done.

Image credits: Teenflo and Michael Kors